The Princess of Wales has only been seen twice since September 23. She hasn’t been out at all this week, although that might change – there’s a rumor that she’s headed to Oxford today, but as of this writing, she’s still not there. Kate’s “one event a week, if that” schedule is back on track after a flurry of busywork and MAGA-princessing in the first half of September. It makes sense that she’s waiting until today to do her first public appearance of the week too – the Sussexes will receive their humanitarian award tonight in New York. Kate will want to be in the news to chase their headlines.
Meanwhile, Kate did one other piece of “work” this week – she coauthored an essay about how too much screentime is bad! This has become like the Pippa Tips of Early Years – Kate reciting talking points from years-old studies and repackaging common-knowledge as some keen new discovery. “Kids should play outside” and “smartphones are bad for kids” = the sum total of Kate’s seven years of Early Years expertise.
The Princess of Wales has warned that an overload of smartphones and computer screens is creating an “epidemic of disconnection” that disrupts family life.
“While digital devices promise to keep us connected, they frequently do the opposite,” writes Catherine, in an essay written in collaboration with Prof Robert Waldinger from Harvard Medical School. Catherine says smartphones and gadgets have become a “constant distraction, fragmenting our focus” and undermining the time that families spend together.
“We’re physically present but mentally absent, unable to fully engage with the people right in front of us,” writes the princess, in an essay that’s part of her early years education campaign.
The princess says that research evidence shows the importance of creating healthy and warm relationships within families and between people, with lifelong benefits for physical and mental health. But she warns, in an essay The Power of Human Connection in a Distracted World, that social trends are going in the opposite direction and that there are more lonely, isolated people and that families are not giving each other adequate attention.
“When we check our phones during conversations, scroll through social media during family dinners, or respond to e-mails while playing with our children, we’re not just being distracted, we are withdrawing the basic form of love that human connection requires,” she writes.
This is a particularly acute challenge for today’s children who are in a “world immersed in digital technology”, says Catherine, ahead of a visit to an early years centre in Oxford later on Thursday.
In her essay published on the website of the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, Catherine says that children need to be encouraged to develop social and emotional skills, which will help them throughout their lives. But that can be impeded by a “world filled with technological distractions”, she argues.
“We’re raising a generation that may be more ‘connected’ than any in history while simultaneously being more isolated, more lonely, and less equipped to form the warm, meaningful relationships that research tells us are the foundation of a healthy life,” she writes.
If only a royal would create something like a Parents’ Network to help provide tools and resources for parents who are struggling to raise children in the extremely-online era. Oh wait. Incidentally, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s formation of the Parents’ Network is the reason why they’re accepting the humanitarians of the year award from Project Healthy Minds today.
PS… I’ll cover today’s photos of Kate when we get them!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
